Efosa's 27 leads Providence women past Creighton 79-75

Updated Jan. 4, 2023 9:19 p.m. ET

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Grace Efosa more than doubled her career-high with 27 points and Providence won its first Big East Conference game of the season with a 79-75 win over No. 25 Creighton on Wednesday.

Janai Crooms added 14 points for the Friars (10-6, 1-4), including the final free throw with less than a second left. Olivia Olsen had 13 points and Kylee Sheppard 12. Efosa, whose previous best was 13 points, was 12-of-17 shooting with 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Maly scored a career-high 30 points with six 3-pointers five rebounds and five assists for the Bluejays (9-5, 3-3), who have lost four of five. Lauren Jensen added 13 points and Emma Ronsiek had 10.

After outscoring Creighton 24-11 in the third quarter to take a 63-57 lead into the fourth the Friars were clutch down the stretch. Behind Maly, the Bluejays pulled within three midway through the quarter. But Efosa scored the next eight Providence points, getting the lead back to seven and making it 78-72 with two free throws with four seconds left.

Providence is just 4-16 against Creighton but has won on the road in 2019, 21 and 23.

Creighton led 46-39 at halftime by shooting 50% and going 11 of 19 from 3-point range. In the second half Providence shot 63% and had a 20-3 run in the third quarter with Olsen scoring nine.

Creighton is at Marquette on Sunday when Providence is home against Seton Hall.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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